Guinea pig essentials

Owning your first guinea pig; What cage should you buy? How big? and a list of everything you will need before you take them home.

I’m back again with another Guinea pig blog post! This time I’m giving you the low down on everything you need if you’re thinking about buying pet guinea pigs.

A large cage/hutch

I don’t want this post to be preachy; however you should steer away from buying a cage from the pet store. Admittedly it’s something we did when we first bought our two piggies; but we quickly realised how fast they grow out of them. I highly recommend a C&C cage if you’re thinking of having Guinea pigs as indoor pets. The recommended size for two Guinea pigs is 2X4 grids. They are customisable and easy to set up. Plus you can add on extra grids if you want additional space. We added a loft onto ours and the pigs love going up and down their little ramp.

Hay & Hayracks

Guinea pigs need a constant supply of fresh hay. It equates to 80% of their diet so it’s important to have it in an abundance. Invest in a variety of hay-racks to store/keep their Timothy hay fresh.

Bedding

There is a wide variety of options when it comes to choosing Guinea pigs bedding. There are also a lot of pros and cons to each. We used to use newspaper, sawdust and hay, however once we discovered fleece bedding it was a game changer. It’s cosy and soft for your piggies little feet and is much easier to clean and maintain. I recommend buying a fleece with an absorbent liner such as the ones from Guineadad. They are super absorbent, taking the moisture away from the fleece layer to keep it dry and clean on your piggies paws. GuineaDad’s fleeces are also anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-microbial which essentially means the fleece reduces the chance of your piggies getting a bacteria related disease.

Even GuineaDads packaging is amazing! Each box doubles as either a hidey house or tunnel for your piggies to enjoy, chew and play with.

Food bowls & water bottles

Another tip; don’t underestimate the importance of a good, sturdy food bowl. Guinea pigs like to stand on the edge of their bowls to help them eat, so if you have a flimsy bowl the food will tip everywhere and will make a total mess. We use the Haypigs food craving tamer food bowl which is great. It’s tip-proof, stackable and dishwasher friendly.

Now onto water bottles. We have a Livingworld eco plus water bottle. It’s easy to clean as it’s glass and has a sweet little carrot floating in the water to help you monitor the water levels. You can get a variety of bottles from online or in your local pet-store. They are usually all fit for purpose, but one thing I would recommend is getting two. 1: To avoid your piggies squabbling and 2: So that you have a back up incase they get super thirsty.

As i mentioned before hay is 80% of a Guinea pig’s diet, but they will also need pellets/nuggets once a day and a bowl of fresh veggies every day too!

Hideys & tunnels

Guinea pigs are prey animals which means that by nature they like to burrow and hide. They are naturally shy little creatures until they become trusting and comfortable around you. Buy a few hideys so that they can get cosy underneath them. Again, I recommend Haypigs circus hidey hut. It’s a sweet circus themed fleece tent that comes with two pee pads. My piggies absolutely love theirs. Additionally you can also buy wooden tunnels and plastic igloos etc from online or your local pet-store.

Toys & chews

Boredom breakers are a great way for your Piggies to pass some time. A lot of the toys you can buy also help keep their teeth healthy too. I highly recommend anything Willow. My piggies go mad for it!

And that’s everything! I hope you found this post interesting and somewhat helpful!